Branded and Cooperative Advertising – Making both Work for You

“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.” ~John D. Rockefeller

This is the essence of marketing.  As a medical professional; marketing does not change the quality of care your patients receive.  It doesn’t augment your own qualification or those of your staff or partners.  Marketing allows you to tell the world what you already possess.

There is a strong correlation between marketing and quality. Since 2001 I have had the privilege of working in the marketing and advertising industry.  During this time I have seen many different marketing campaigns.

I have seen great marketing from a company that has a great product or service.  This is where we all strive to be.  It all begins with your product or service.  Do you have something that is a valuable and credible to offer the consumer?  If so, are you presenting that product or service in a way that shows how great it actually is?  Companies like Apple, Lexus, Verizon Wireless and others consistently achieve both – Great product & a great marketing campaign.

I have also seen great marketing from a company that does not have a great product or service.  The message and presentation of the product or service is amazing, but the product itself is less than impressive.  (Names will be omitted to protect the guilty).

Unfortunately, I have also seen terrible marketing from a company that has a great product or service.  The product or service is sound, but its presentation or positioning in the marketing is terrible.  Ads are coming to mind – you know the ones I am talking about.

Bottom line, marketing doesn’t affect the quality of your service, but the quality of your marketing greatly affects the quality of your company.

Let’s talk about some marketing basics

Why do people market?

• To establish brand awareness
• To establish differentiation
• To educate & develop prospective new patients
• To increase appointments and revenue
• To solidify patient loyalty

Who should market?

• Any professional who wants to:
• Reach new patients
• Increase awareness of their practice
• Strengthen or correct their brand image
• Convert patients into lifetime patients of record

Times to Market

You should market to announce changes in your practice or service offerings

• New staff members
• New services offered
• New technology
• New location
• New operating hour

You should market to promote a specific service

• Teeth whitening
• Invisalign®
• Services for children

When business is slow

• Your practice offers flexible appointment times and maybe even same day booking.

When business is normal

• You promote your flywheel

Even when business is great

• You promote the success and exclusivity of your practice

Whether your goal is to drive new patients to your practice or establish patient loyalty it is always the time to market.  The message, medium and budget will change through these periods of time, but you can never go offline from your marketing budget.  Every marketing event is an opportunity for you is promote your strengths, your expertise and your differentiators.

How to market?

There is no silver bullet for marketing dental practices.  You have to do more than one thing; you need a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan.

Marketing must take place on multiple levels.  Your method of marketing should be determined by:

• Your demographic
• Who do you want to reach?
• Your location and geography
• How large is the area you can market to?
• Your budget
• How much do you have to spend?
• Your business objectives
• What will it take to accomplish your business goals?

How much should you spend?

• National average for general dentistry is 5-7% of the gross revenue.
• In markets with a lower than 1:1500 doctor to patient ratio the average increases to 8-11% of the gross revenue.
• The Los Angeles DMA has a 1:900 doctor to patient ratio and requires that as much 15% of the gross revenue is dedicated to marketing.
• You will spend more in a down cycle or growth cycle and less in a stable or mature period of your practice.

Goals of Marketing

• Direct Response – I want patients, I want revenue and I want them now!
• Branding – I want to establish or raise the profile of my practice
• Service or Product Launch – I am offering something new and I want you to know

There is no single choice of goals for a dental practice.  All three of these goals exist although the priority of these goals will shift continuously throughout the life-cycle of a practice.

 

Branded & Cooperative Marketing

Branded marketing is where you are the advertiser.

• Your name
• Your practice
• Your creative

Cooperative marketing is where you are part of a group that is advertising

Advantages of Branded Advertising

• You are building your name
• You have control of the creative
• Your budget determines your reach
• Success is based on your brand and reputation

Disadvantages of Branded Advertising

• Marketing medium are limited to your practice area
• Campaign effectiveness can be limited by your creative budget
• Your budget determines your reach
• Success is based on your brand or reputation
• It takes time to build a brand

Budget and reputation fall into both the advantage and disadvantage category.  Your budget and your reputation will determine which category it falls into; and both of these components are critical to the success of a branded advertising campaign.

Advantages of Cooperative Advertising

• Your marketing dollars reach more potential patients
• Your practice is associated with other professionals
• Costs are absorbed by the group instead of the individual
• The larger the group the greater the opportunity for the group

Disadvantages of Cooperative Advertising

Your practice is associated with other professionals

Who you are associated with determines whether or not the cooperative effort will be an advantage of disadvantage to you.  Never associate down – always associate with peers and those who have a better brand than you.

 

Which is form is the best?  Branded or Cooperative?

Neither!

The best advertising is referrals from happy patients – always has been and always will be.

 

Branded Advertising:

• Always appropriate
• Common Limitations
• Direct Mail
• Community Publications
• SEO & SEM
• Social Media
• High barrier of entry from a cost perspective and higher financial risk

Cooperative Advertising:

• Always appropriate
• Leverage higher priced, More Effective marketing
• Television
• Radio
• Low barrier of entry from a cost perspective and lower financial risk

Branded and cooperative advertising bring new patients who should in turn bring referrals of their own.  Cooperative is always appropriate unless the group you are advertising with is radically different from your practice.

Branded and Cooperative marketing efforts can easily be compared to Individual Stock purchases and Mutual Funds.

When you purchase a stock:

• Money is invested in one company
• Value rises and falls with that one company
• Results can be volatile
• The stock could split and you could cash in BIG

When you invest in a mutual fund:

• Money is invested across a group of stocks and bonds
• Loss is mitigated through diversity
• Investment is made for a long period of time seeking reasonable growth

A savvy financial investor will recommend both options to you; diversification is the key to long-term financial stability.  Once again, in marketing your dental practice, there is no one answer to your marketing needs.

Dental practices need to employ both branded and cooperative marketing efforts for their practices.  Both strategies working in tandem produce the greatest chance of success.

Branded advertising should be utilized based on your practice’s capabilities concerning geography and services.  Your name needs to be in front of your patients and your potential patients as frequently as you can.  Branded advertising raises your profile in the community. Once equity is established in your brand, the residual effects of your advertising will begin to multiply your campaign’s effectiveness.

Cooperative advertising should be used to continuously drive new patients to your practice.  This low risk, effective form of marketing supplies the basic needs of a dental practice, new patients.  As new patients from your cooperative marketing efforts are added to your practice your branded efforts must take over.

Cooperative advertising brings new patients to your practice.  Your service, quality of care and the continuity of your branded advertising will keep them coming back; bringing their family, friends and co-workers.

Methods of Marketing

We are going to go through the different methods of marketing and answer as many of the who, how, when, why & how much questions we can as they relate to dentistry.

Television Advertising

The quality of your commercials and the placement of your commercials is the key to a successful television campaign.  Quality commercial production is expensive. Local broadcast is only recommended for large group or cooperative marketing platforms.  You need to be able to service the majority of the market you broadcast in.

Radio Advertising

Radio does not have the production costs associated with television advertising, but it poses the same challenges geographically as television.  You cannot control where your calls come from.  In order for the campaign to make sense it needs to be executed for a large group practice or a cooperative marketing program.

Satellite radio poses the same challenge as national cable, it reaches too far.  I have utilized personality endorsed radio because it has the greatest history of success.

Digital Marketing

In order for digital advertising to be effective you need a quality website.  Unless you are getting a great deal through a friends and family discount you are going to invest $5,000 – $10,000 in a website capable of supporting a quality digital campaign.

Digital advertising takes many forms and we are going to briefly cover the following:

• Search Engine Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Email Marketing

These are not the only forms of digital advertising, but they are the most effective for the marketing of a dental practice.

Search Engine Marketing

This is where you pay Google, Yahoo & Bing for your campaign to appear in the search results.  These campaigns are very effective if based on the proper keywords.  The success of these campaigns is determined by your website’s ability to convert a paid click to an action (call or email). This method of marketing has become one of the most effective ways to advertise dental services available today.

Search Engine Optimization

This is where your website appears organically in the search results of Google, Yahoo & Bing.  These campaigns are effective, but take a consistent stream of original content being posted to your site.  Services for SEO are available for a monthly investment between $1,200 – $2,500 monthly.  Most services charge a set-up fee.  The results of an SEO campaign take time to mature; many times yielding little to no results in the first 1-4 months of the effort.  As with any industry, there is a fair amount of disreputable companies mixed in with some great companies.  If you have a quality website, you should employ SEO as part of your marketing budget.

Email Marketing

You need to keep in touch with your patients and email is the best way to do so.  Email supports continuity in your practice and heavily assists in converting occasional patients to life time patients.  Content rich emails end up being forwarded to your patients’ contacts and can be a great source of referrals. Email marketing needs to be implemented at your practice.

Print

 

Print – this is the “Old Faithful” marketing method for many dental practices.

Direct mail

• Target the residents of the community you service by placing a card or letter in the mail.
• Your messaging, graphic design and list are the vital ingredients to the success of this campaign
• Response rates can range from 0.5% – 3.0%

Publications

• Be sure your ad is placed in an appropriate section and that the publication is read by the people who can and will use your services
• The keys to success in print marketing are:
• Messaging
• Graphic Design
• Readership or List
• Placement within the publication

Social Media

Social Media – it’s becoming the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs of the 21st century (only on steroids).  You can connect with people from your desktop or phone.  As your network expands your influence increases.  It is an excellent method of branded advertising.

FaceBook, etc.

• Post your profile find your friends and constantly tell them what you’re doing
• It works.  If you need help, there are professionals available to assist you, but you need to do it.
• Over 600 million users are on Facebook alone

Twitter

• Post videos, pictures and short messages to your Tweeples (followers)
• Promote yourself, your practice and your services
• Some dentists are using the video feature to update their patients

 

Blogging

• Publish articles and events about your practice
• Use other social media like FaceBook and Twitter to distribute your content
• You can set yourself up as an authority and host discussions on certain topics.

Keep personal, personal and professional, professional.  This is an excellent form of branded advertising.

Marketing is used to:

• Drive patients and revenue into your practice
• Raise your profile within the community
• Announce services, events and changes to your practice

Marketing can take place through many mediums. A combined strategy of branded and cooperative marketing campaigns are necessary.

About the Author

Mike Ponzillo is the Chief Operating Officer of Right Dental Group.

Right Dental Group is dental practice marketing firm that specializes in bringing new patients to general dentists. Right Dental Group does not charge fees of any kind to its dentist members.

More information about Right Dental Group can be found at RightDentalGroup.com/Join

Contact us today at (877) 804-8484 to see if there are openings in your area.